MagicGuy

Last jump was 4 days ago. The worst part is that, it was such a fun jump, my best one yet, that waiting the 6 days to jump again seems like forever!! But weather is looking pretty good this weekend.. Saturday can't come fast enough!

Pre-second, I love it. One of my friends drops that all the time to avoid buying BEER. My opinon.. lose the pink, man.

I, too, think Cloud 9 is pretty damn cool.

The Triathlon is from '98. The Spectre was brand new. I'll probably find out this weekend how much different they are. As long as I get cleared to jump the Triathlon I'll let you all know how it goes.

It was a very somber feeling this weekend at Jumptown. Almost everyone there knows Q. When I was just starting my AFF I met him and he was extremely friendly and already tried recruiting me to the world of CReW. When I heard about the incident, even though I didn't know him all that well, it really hit home. RIP Q. CReW Skies brotha..

I got to demo a Spectre 170 this weekend. Al from Performance Designs was doing demos on all of their canopies. I wanted to jump a 170 because the rig that I have currently has a Triathlon 160 in it and I haven't jumped it yet. Before that I was jumping a big 9 cell PD 190. Both Al and Brian (the master rigger) thought it would be smart for me to try the Spectre 170 for two reasons - I'll be jumping a seven cell, and it's inbetween what I've been jumping and what I will be jumping. Just for the record, I weigh 125 pounds, and that's on a heavy day And on a funny side note, I found out that I fall at an average of about 100mph, reaching as low as about 94mph. I have jumps on 260, 240 and 200 Navigators and a PD 190. I honestly felt the most comfortable on the Spectre! I felt totally in control and could actually get some penetration into the wind. With those huge canopies it feels like the wind has more control over me than I do which is a scary thing. And my landings with the Spectre were amazing. SO accurate, I actually landed where I wanted to. Flare power was awesome, turns were extremely responsive and fun. For the first time I felt very comfortable under canopy, and I only made 4 jumps on it. The Spectre rocked! The PD guy told me that I might be disappointed when I jump the Triathlon. Just curious what people who have jumped both types of canopies think about that statement. The Spectre was so much fun.. but then again the Triathlon is 10 sq. feet smaller. Any input on what I might expect from the Triathlon, or what might be different about it versus the Spectre?

N/A

Ha, thanks Doug. Sorry you didn't get in the air this weekend. Damn winds yesterday sucked but I managed to make two jumps once they died down. For the first time I think since AFF I actually felt what a good arch was like yesterday. Last load of the day, did a fun jump with a coach (who's the man, by the way) and we managed to fall at the same rate - a whole 97MPH . It was the most fun I've had on a jump yet. To be hanging out with a good friend during a skydive and actually doing it right felt pretty damn cool. Thanks for the help guys. I'm getting there...

No, I should've made it more clear. I have the check that they cashed, the one the bank sends you after it's been cashed. They definitely still have my $700.

I didn't sign a lease. I didn't sign ANYTHING. The lease was signed before I was even told that we were moving. They are fucked up. The only thing that makes me happy, and this makes me sound like a dick, is knowing that a few months down the road they are going to be screwed when they don't have the money to pay for rent. But they fucked me over, so fuck them. I'm getting my shit out of there on Sunday. I still have the check that I wrote them for the $700.

I've been getting some PMs and whatnot regarding the situation I had with my roommates. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't even bother reading on because you'll probably be lost. Anyways, I haven't been living at the new house since the day that I left (the day after moving in). I was planning on moving back, seeing as they still have my $700, until yesterday. I turned 21 on Monday and I went to my local gun shop yesterday so I could apply for my blue card (handgun permit). About a year ago the kid I was living with (younger brother, my best friend since high school) put a handgun in his name for me. I paid the full price of the gun. He did it because one, I wanted a handgun to bring to the range with me and two, I wasn't 21 and couldn't legally own the gun. He always kept the gun at his house and the deal was, when I turned 21, he would transfer it over to me. As I'm leaving from the gun store, and I still can't believe the timing on this one, my roommates were getting out of their car. In their hands are two guns: a rifle, and MY .45. The older brother had the pistol and was trying to hide it behind his back so I wouldn't see it. I didn't want to start a scene, especially in front of a gun store, and especially when the argument was going to be 2 against 1, so I quietly went back to my car and called them a few minutes later. They sold my fucking gun on me. I paid $550 for that gun and they just sold it. "We haven't heard from you and needed your share of money". I was like, "I hope you got a lot for it, because it just cost you our friendship". Little brother kept saying it wasn't his idea, it was big brother's. What, you couldn't say No, I don't want to sell it? Later in the convo, when I said that I was planning on moving back in and I had already told him that, he said "Not to be a dick but we don't want you back". So, not only did they sell my $600 gun, but they still have my $700 security depost + first month's rent, and now they are basically kicking me out. Most of my possessions are still over there, including two rifles (both in my name), about 40 DVDs, a tv, my boxspring and mattress and I good amount of my clothes. So, once I get the rest of my stuff, I'm going to consult a lawyer and see if there's any way I can get my $700 back. I know I have no case with the gun, which sucks but I'll live, but to hand them over $700 and not get anything out of it... FUCK THAT. Anyone have any ideas on what I may be able to do about it?

Well I'm one jump closer anyways lol. This weekend is looking like bad weather once again - I might try to get out of work early tomorrow because it's like like lots of blue skies. Good luck with your A License, I'll be there all weekend so I'll cya Sunday! Oh yeah, they are doing night jumps tomorrow.

I know nothing about airplane maintenance. But I have no reason to back up my comments because they came from a reliable source(s).

Jumptown is AMAZING. The people are awesome, the airplane is one of the best (if not THE best) maintained jump plane in the states, and it's just a great atmosphere. Everyone welcomes you with open arms, and the night time events are always a blast! Doug, I met you man! You had the red and blue Icon with the UCONN logo on the side, right? I was the small guy that you were talking to in manifest.

Yeah, I know I shouldn't get down on myself. I'm a bit (ha!) of a perfectionist. I like to pick things up quickly and tend to get irritated with myself when I can't. Call me stubborn I suppose. As always, thanks for the advice, guys. Fish, I did the jump with Leslie. And of course, it was still fun, just frustrating that I couldn't friggin' arch. Oh by the way, no she wasn't pissed, or rude.. just had some advice. I think I was just thinking too much about the task at hand that I wasn't thinking about having fun. It brought me back to the days of AFF.. a whole month and a half ago

Today was my birthday so I was determined to get to the DZ for the first load. There was some RW organizing going on and one of the coaches offered to do some forward movement stuff with me.. kind of like a free coach dive really. The plan was do a floating exit with her holding my harness. Once stable she was going to backslide and I was to 'track' towards her and dock. This was going to happen 3 times. Well, we did the floater exit, she let go of me and damnit, I just could not get steady. I don't know what the hell was wrong with me - I was potato-chipping all over the place. I got steady right before deployment time and didn't manage to do any of the docking or forward movement that was planned. I was really discouraged. Not only because I felt like I wasted the coaches time, but because I couldn't do the simplest part of skydiving - - ARCH. Now I'm scared to even do another coach jump, especially a paid one. The arch is the most important part of the whole dive and I need to be confident that I can do that. I am 19 jumps and I really want to ge my A before the season ends in November. I haven't jumped in 3 weeks and it was my first jump of the day, so I am not getting TOO down on myself for that reason. But what can I do to make this better? I need to be confident of my arch. Is practicing it on the ground worth my time? If not, what can I do to work on this? It's really bothering me..

I'm from RI. I'm down at Jumptown in Orange every weekend. Which DZ are you going to?

I think it's awesome that someone was willing to send me one! I'm totally greatful and can't wait to make a bad ass necklace out of it. Thanks again, Chuck. You da man.. And thanks everyone else for the info!

15 seems a little young to me. She can't legally sign a contract herself, and therefore, in my eyes, shouldn't start doing AFF. There's a lot going on, and there's a lot to do up there to stay safe. It just seems so young to me. I wouldn't want my 15 year old self jumping out of planes, attached or unattached to someone else. And I was a good 15 yr old.. I'm sure she could do it.. she knows what freefall is like since she's done a tandem, but thinking about it, it just seems so young to start.

I want to make my own necklace, so I am looking for a closing pin. Anyone know of an online source that sells them?

Do a really fun exit. Do some back or front flips out of the plane and hold it for a few seconds. I'm doing mostly solos during my transition from AFF to A Licensed, and I try some kind of cool exit each time just to vary it up.

LOVE Super Nintendo. I spent tons of childhood hours glued to the TV playing it. Makes me want to go buy one and start playing!

Not totally sure, but I saw an awesome video on SkydivingMovies.com that had guys with skis/snowboards and BASE rigs doing crazy flips off of ridiculously high cliffs and then deploying. Pretty cool stuff. That would be fun to watch in the Olympics!

I'm sure something will help to fill the void a little bit, but skydiving is skydiving - there is nothing that compares or beats it. OK, maybe BASE jumping, but pregnancy won't allow for that either!

This was one of the first questions I had for my instructor. Tandem harnesses suck. They are the most uncomfortable things EVER. They ride up so hard on your junk, and plus the way that you sit in them, for me anyways, gave me a very lightheaded feeling. I don't feel any of this under student gear.